More than half of older people are cutting back on essentials such as heating and food, and one in 10 of the poorest pensioners have been forced into debt by the rising cost of living, according to Age Concern.

With a third of those eligible still missing out on the Governments flagship benefit Pension Credit five years since its introduction, the charity is calling for urgent government action to increase take-up.

To overcome the deeply ingrained barriers to claiming benefits, Age Concern wants the Government to introduce a new system of automatic payments as soon as possible – an idea supported by seven in 10 older people – and reform the benefits system to help the poorest pensioners cope with their escalating household bills.

The report reveals that six in 10 low income pensioners are only just getting by or are finding it difficult to manage financially. Two-thirds of pensioners are cutting back on the amount of gas and electricity they are using, 52% are buying less or poorer quality food, and 49% are planning on cutting back their heating this winter.

The Government has made some efforts to improve the take-up of Pension Credit and further positive, though limited reforms to the claiming process are about to come into effect. But the charity is warning that these are nowhere near radical enough to significantly increase take-up.

Furthermore, unless take-up dramatically improves, the decision to reduce the period for which older people can claim backdated benefits to fund these reforms will penalise the very poorest.

Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: It is deeply wrong that billions of pounds in benefits cash is failing to reach the poorest pensioners at a time when thousands are feeling forced to cut back on essentials such as food and fuel.

There can be no doubt that current measures to tackle the scourge of pensioner poverty are falling pitifully short of the mark. Pension Credit has the potential to lift hundreds of thousands of pensioners out of poverty, but will remain more flagging than flagship without urgent action to reform the faltering benefits system. Introducing a system of automatic benefits it is the only effective way to reach all those who need help through these difficult financial times.

Is it just me, or have the seasons all changed?

Winters seem to start later, and end later. Almost every year now, it’s positively summery until November – witness the current warm snap – and then freezing for five solid months until May. The sad thing is that the cold weather seems to drag on longer than ever, well into what used to be spring. So start looking now at swapping your energy provider. There are many websites like www.betterbills.net and the Utility Warehouse to check out. Most households could save something, and many could save over £300. It only takes 10 minutes to start looking, and many web sites allow you to sign up online. The better providers have no minimum contract term, so you are able to switch again if a better deal comes along.

At the same time, extreme weather is more common, whether it’s last year’s snow that brought half the country to a halt, or the floods of 2007. So now more than ever, it’s important to prepare your house for the winter. Think of our ‘house-warming’ list here as the opposite of a spring clean: it’s a late-autumn check for small things that could become big problems. And with the weather still clement, there’s no time like the present.

• Get your boiler checked. Summer is really the best time to get a boiler serviced, but if yours hasn’t had its annual check yet, there’s no time like the present – repair costs go up like a hot-air balloon in winter.
• Check the Gas Safe Register for legally registered, safe gas engineers. As well as checking for costly problems, the engineer should make sure that your heating is working efficiently, saving you money in cold weather.
• Know what to do if a pipe bursts. Find your house’s stopcock now and check everyone in the house knows how to turn it off, in order to minimize damage if a pipe does burst. If the worst does happen and a pipe bursts, turn off the stopcock, then flush the toilets and run all the taps to drain the water tank as quickly as possible. Prevention is better than cure, though. If it’s freezing outside, leave one tap in the house dripping slightly: this can prevent a burst pipe by lowering the water pressure. Insulation, insulation, insulation.
• We all know that making sure your house is properly insulated will cut heating bills. Top up your loft insulation, and install cavity wall insulation if possible. This is a big job, and a major investment: see our tips, and call your local Energy Saving Trust office on 0800 512 012 for advice. But there are lots of smaller insulation jobs that will also help.
• Walk around the house and do a draught check, then seal gaps around windows and doors. Check if there are any holes where pipes leave the house, and fill them. Lag your boiler and pipes – an easy weekend DIY job.
• Line curtains for extra insulation. Put foil behind radiators to reflect heat back into the room.

There are more useful tips (including details of how to check whether you’re entitled to any heating grants) on how to slash your heating bills. It’s also worth shopping around for the best energy tariff. Life-saving checks. Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are vital. There’s never a bad time to change the batteries and test the alarms. With winter drawing in, and heaters and fires at full blast, it’s even more important.

Sweep the chimney. If you have an open fire, now is the time to get your chimney swept! Chimney-sweeping is generally cheapest in the spring – but birds can nest in chimneys during the summer, so autumn is the best time overall. If you don’t use the chimney, block it up to conserve heat – though only do it if there’s no possibility of the fire being used, otherwise it’s dangerous. The roof over your head. When was the last time you looked at your roof? Take a pair of binoculars and do a visual check for missing or cracked roof tiles. These can let damp through in the rain, and weak tiles are bad news in winter gales. On flat roofs, check for puddles. Check your chimney pots, satellite dish and TV aerial are fixed securely, too. A quick fix now could save money later.

Stamp out damp. Make sure gutters aren’t blocked with leaves. Overflowing water can weaken brickwork and even foundations, especially in old houses. Buy gutter leaf guards and ensure pipes discharge well away from the house. Make sure window-frames aren’t damp, and seal any gaps with sealant or mortar. Wooden windowsills will benefit from a coat of wood preservative. Finally, check that drip grooves underneath windowsills aren’t blocked with moss. If you suspect you might have damp, you can get a free survey from companies like Kenwood Plc or Barker Goodwin.

Trees & garden. Trim tree branches away from the house (high winds can slam branches into windows, and leaves can block gutters). Prepare your garden for winter: get rid of weeds and clear away dead annuals. Store garden furniture so it doesn’t blow away during gales, shut (and lock) tools and barbecues away to stop them rusting, and drain the lawnmower’s motor – you won’t be needing it again for a while.

Home insurance. Check that your home insurance policy covers against damage from cold weather, floods, and frozen pipes, and any restrictions. Fences and gates may not be covered, for example. It’s possible to insure heating systems, too, though if you have a home insurance policy and a cheapish boiler, it may not be necessary. Make a house first-aid kit. Include a torch, batteries, candles and matches, insulation tape, fuses, radiator key, WD-40, screwdriver, and penknife. Also include important phone numbers, like your insurance company helpline and a 24-hour plumbers

I’m writing a report on this and figure some feedback from normal people would help more than databank figures.

My opinion is that they are a cheap company that is struggling and in an attempt to profit they are trying to produce there cars cheaper by sacrificing quality.

just my opinion.

A minimum wage job pays about 13k annually (before taxes) IF they get a full 40. So after taxes they have about 900-980 a month depending on filing status and children.

The cheapest apartment I could find locally was a 2 room efficiency for $375 a month (note not a 2-bed, a 2-ROOM)

food will cost at least $100 person per month

Utilities would be cheaper for a small apartment so lets say $150 for electric & heat. $20 for water.

If you have a job you’ll need a car so $200 for a car payment and $30 for insurance throw in $40 for gas

$25 for a phone (cheap for a landline)

let’s see I’ve covered rent, utilities, food and transportation what’s left? Oh clothes, toiletries, cleaning supplies and other little things, hmm…. we’ll go cheap here to and say $20 a month.

What do we have so far …. $960 a month to live in a 2 room hovel and eat raman noodles on a regular basis.
How would someone in your area do with a budget of $900-990 a month?
HA, food stamps that’s a good one. A single person making minimum wage doesn’t qualify for food stamps.

And I’ll tell you My family of 4 has an income of about $1200 a month (barely above minimum) and we get a grand total of $225 in food stamps a month. So there ya go family of 4 on $1425 a month, do that budget. Find a place to live locally for a family (we need a 3-bed as my kids are the opposite sex) and make a car payment on that. If ya want to try adding in a job for me but don’t forget childcare costs and a second car.
Oooooo…. college education, good point there, I have an accounting degree (assoc. for now and 10 classes from a BA)

To finish my degree I need about $3600 a semester and FA will pay $2050 of it. Don’t forget the child care…..
Oh, I’m not talking about immigrants here, I’m talking about Americans who have no where else to go and are trying to compete with the illegals.

You don’t, especially if you have children,that’s why i’m living with family right now. I was making just a little above minimum and after struggling,starving and selling everything I had, I couldn’t do it on my own anymore.

But conversion from baseboard to forced air gas is a MAJOR expense. It might be worth it if it is a house. But with all that construction for the ducting and vents the cost could be prohibitive as the payback time could take many years. It would have been easier if you had forced air electric.

The benefit of baseboard is that it makes it easy to shut off a room or rooms. That is a savings in a way but those cold rooms make it drafter as they draw heat from the other rooms in the winter.

One BIG drawback I found with baseboard was that I thought if I turned off the baseboard while gone for my long workdays I would save.

I found that I was often cold and I had to crank up the electric heat rather high in the evening. Without fan circulation I checked temps and found for several hours with a cold house I would be cold sitting in a chair and the chair measured 65 degrees.

But with the electric heat on it was +100! degrees at the ceiling. I found not letting it get so cold during the day and adding table top fans to blow the air around I was much more comfortable and saved money. I saved by leaving it on MORE because I didn’t crank it up so hot trying to warm the place up when I got home. I know it sounds a bit counter intuitive but was true.

I am an HVAC/refrigeration guy so it was a "project" for me and I had lots of thermometers. LOL.

But what I did was convert the forced air electric for the upstairs plus both water heaters to gas for a BIG savings .

For the downstairs I added a small wall furnace. It cut the bill for the upstairs to half and the apartment to near one third at the time.

When I close the bedroom door in the apartment it doesn’t get heated so I did use the baseboard a bit at night and only in the cold times in the winter. But for the rest of the time the wall furnace heats it just fine. That is the only baseboard I use.

The price of gas has gone up a lot since then but going to gas I would guess you might cut your bill by 1/3 depending on all your factors. i.e. I built the apartment and heavily insulated it.

Here is what I recommend for you:

Convert the water heater. I know people that have said that ALONE justified bringing in the gas. (depends on how many people in the house).

Then add a wall furnace someplace to supplement the baseboard. It can do a lot if not most of the heating. If it is as noisy as mine you don’t want it near the TV. lol.

That is the least expensive and thus most cost effective way to approach it. And you can add, change it, to a central forced air furnace later or if you want to add a/c that we only rarely need in the cool NW . But if you like putting money in to the house.. (wink).

IF your water heater is in the garage, great!, and if your living room wall is common to the garage you can put in a wall furnace there easily.

And the wall furnace adds air circulation. I still recommend using extra fans, even in the winter with just the baseboard (from my experience with how I used the heat).

And don’t be too cheap about the wall furnace. Mine was cheap and has a fan that is too noisy and working on them I know there are better, quieter, ones out there. I would replace it but the property (acres in town with three houses on it) is slated for development, on hold due to the housing situation.

Unless you are planning on staying there 20 to 30 years for the payback IMHO that is your best solution.

Good Luck.